Container or tube for dentifrice



y 1930- c. J. PENNEY 1,760,773

CONTAINER OR TUBE FOR DENTIFRICE Filed Sept. 29, 1928 INVENTOR, (fan/gave: .[PW/Viy ATTORNEY Patented May 27, 1930 UNITED STA CLARENCE J. PENNEY,

on NEW YORK, 11. Y".

' CONTAINER OR TUBE FOR DEN'IIFRICE Application filed September 2 The present invention relates more particularly but not necessarily to the art of mak-' ing' and packaging tooth pastes. The tooth pastes on the market today are compositions 5 intended principally for polishing the teeth;

the cleaning of the teeth, that is, the removal of the dangerous films andtartar, being left to the dentist. The dentist usually employs powdered pumice stone, or similar abradant material, in connection with a new brush of strong bristles.

The principal object of the invention is to provide means whereby the user of tooth paste may obtain results which, while possibly not equal to the results obtained by-the proper and regular use of good tooth pastes or powders and cleaning of the teeth by a dentist at suitable intervals, are much better than those usually obtained and assure better care of the teeth by the users of tooth paste. Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide for extruding or forcing out one layer at av time from a collapsible container tube of the customary type, closed at one end and having at the other end a discharge opening or outlet which maybe restricted and serveto control the flow, a filling of paste comprising layers of difierent com-. position, for example, layers of two lands of. of paste arranged in alternation and'difiering also in their relative thicknesses, in such proportion that one paste layerserves for an extended period of time as compared with the next paste layer, and so on through thev fillin of the tube. Preferably the paste layers 0 less thickness include an abradant substance. intimately admixed therewith. The proportions of the relative thicknesses of the layers may be such that if the user of collapsible tubes so filled, used twice each day a reasonable amount of the ordinary or usual tooth pastes contained in the tube, each layer of tooth paste containing. the abrasive would come around at the endof nine days of use 5 of the ordinary paste which would be good for the tooth and gums, stimulating the circulation in the gums and removing the film which forms onthe teeth and which is a fertile field for bacteria reproduction. By using-the tube in this manner, the user will follow a 9,1923. Serial no. 309,155.

regular course of dental treatment; Therefore a most important object of the present invention is to provide for the regular prophylactic treatment of the teeth and gums, consecutively and at the proper intervals, the succession of treatments being controlled and not actually at the pleasure of the subject because a single container is used both for the ordinary tooth pasteand for the abrasive paste. e

Another object'of the invention is to-provide a controlling device orcontroller for use in' the collapsible tube to render the flow of material from points in each cross section of the tube-toward the restricted outletsubstantially uniform. According to one form of carrying out the invention, there is pro- -vided a controlling'device or controller located in the tube at the outletend thereof.

This controller may have a stem located at 9 and secured in the outlet by any suitable means, such as a screw thread at the outside of the stem and an internal screw thread in' the outlet end of the tube, and adepending controlling head of a mushroom shape spaced 1 from the tube at-its periphery and at its forward side, that is the side toward said outlet, and having an inner or rearward face with a projecting center or point from which the head gradually increases in cross section until its greatest periphery is reached. .When the tube is collapsed uniformly from its rear end, as by winding the rear end around a suitableikey, the material is forced outwardly around the periphery of the mushroom head and inwardly to the stem of the controller. At that point the material enters radial openings Or bores communicating at their inner ends with a central or axial bore extending to the outer end of said stem, and through which the material is supplied at the outerend of the outlet ofthe collapsible tube.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of certain novel features of the container, the method of filling and using the same, and the means for controlling the. flow of the paste to the outlet,

which can .best be described in connection 7 with the accompanyingdrawings, showing a the other or rear 'verized or tube and controller constitutin a preferred embodiment of the invention and in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the tube;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the upper end of the tube and of the controller, taken alon a plane perpendicular to that along whic the section in Fig. 1 is taken; and

Fig: 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

' Referring to the drawings, 1 denotes a collapsible tube or container" having at One end a constricted or restricted outlet or neck 1 threaded externally to receive thereon an internally threaded closure or cap 2, and at end a seal which maybe effected by means of a sealing strip 3. This tube may conveniently be five inches long and three inches in circumference and preferably is filled with paste of different kinds ,arranged in layers, 4', 5, 6, 7, and 8, the layers 6, 7, and 8 being of the usual tooth paste and preferably about one inch in depth and the layers 4 and 5 being of a mixture of the usual or customary tooth paste with a suitable pulpowdered abrasive of a suificient gritty nature pulverized pumice stone, for example, and preferably about one-half of an inch in dept Said layers of material may be formed by pressing suitable amounts of said usual tooth paste and of said mixture alternately, into the rear end of the tube 1 before closing it with the sealing strip 3. The collapsible tube v1 is made of any suitable material, such as tin foil or pyroxylin, one advantage of the pyroxylin tube being that the various layers show'through the material and indicate the nature of the filling as well as the extent of the material remaimng at any time in the layer positioned at the outlet ready for use.

With the tube of the dimensions specified and the layers of the thicknesses specified, the ordinary paste in one of the layers 6, 7, and 8 would ordinarily the mixture in each of the la ers 4 and 5 would last about bne-half as ong. Tobe more definite with respect to proportions, one ordinarily be sufiicient for eighteen applications to the teeth, twicea day for nine days, and the mixture in each of the one-half inch layers would, if used at the same rate,

last one-half as long. As to the proportions of the ordinary paste and abrasive or abradant material in each of the layers 4 and 5, there may be two-thirds ordinary paste and one-third powdered or pulverized pumice stone. Of course other proportions may found desirable, as for example, three-quarters paste or paste vehicle and one-quarter pumice stone.

Preferably the successive layers 'of paste and mixture are colored to facilitate differentiation by the user and give him information as to when the next layer is reached after a preceding layer has been squeezed out of the ischarge opening. or outlet of the tube. Such last about nine days, and

indications may be observed at the outlet of the tube and, 1n the event that the tube be of transparent material, through the side of tained in expelling substantially all of one layer before the material of the next layer appears at the outlet. This action is facili-- tated not only by the easy flowing quality of the paste but also by the low degree of adhesion of the same to the inner surface of the tube, especially when the tube is made of very smooth material such as pyroxylin.

When, and if, the flow within the body of" the paste filling of the tube is so much faster than at points adjacent to the wall of the tube that the separate feeding of layers from the outlet is not sufliciently satisfactory, it may be desirable to make suitable provisions to obviate such unsatisfactory conditions. Such desired results may be obtained by suitable shaping of the layersof material but preferably by use of controlling'means located in the tube.

In carrying out this feature of the invention, there has been provided 2. depending controlling device or controller 10 in the general formof an inverted mushroom and located at the outlet of the tube. .This'controller includes a head 11 and a stem 12 which may be secured to the tube by means of an external screw thread on the stem 12 and. an

internal screw thread in the neck of thetu'be 1. The head 11 is so shaped as to retard the flow at the middle of the tube and cause thematerial to flow around the outside of the head ;and down to the stem where it passes through ducts 13 extending in generally radial arrangement from and communicating with an axial passage 14 extending to the outlet end of said stem.

At its outlet side the head 11 flares outwardly provide a passage between the head and -the outlet end of the tube and at its greatest periphery is spaced from the cylindrical wall of the tube to provide an annular inlet to the outlet passagw. At its opposite side the head converges rearwardly to a point or tip 15 which for convenience in attaching the controller is provided with a slot 16 which may be reached by a screw driver inserted through the open rear end of the tube. The side having the tip 15 may also be considered as di and inwardly from the stem 12 to l controller. It should be noted that all surfaces are shaped to providesatisfactory flow lines.

A In order to influence the user to start at the bottom of the tube and to assist. in obtaining uniformity of feedof the material, the seal-- ing strip is preferably of greater thickness and weight than the usual sealin strip and is perhaps twice as wide.. It has een found to be particularly desirable to use a key 17, such as shown in dottedlines on Fig. 1, for winding the 'rear or bottom end of the tube thereon, thus assuring the application of pressure to the column of material at the extreme rear end thereof. a

It should be understood that in place of a collapsible tube, use may be made of other containers, such for example as a cylindrical one provided with a plunger or piston workable therein to press the material through the outlet. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made within the spirit and scope of the present inven-' tion and still be within the appended claims, and accordingly the invention is not limited in therespects specifically described herein and illustrated in the drawing.

This application is ,a continuation of my co-pending application Serial No. 227,48 filed October 20,1927, as to all common subject matter of invention disclosed in the two applications.

What I clainf as new, is:

1. The combination with a collapsible container tube of the customary type which is closed at one end and has Na restricted discharge opening at the other end, of means for renderingthe flow of material from points in each cross section, of the tube to said restricted opening substantially uniform as the tube is uniformly collapsed from its closed end, including a spreading device mounted in said discharge opening and prov jecting inwardlytherefrom.

2. .The combination with a collapsible conltainer tube of the customary type which is closed at one end and has a restricted dis charge opening at the other end, .of

-means for rendering the flow'of material lapsible tube or container provided with an outlet at -one end and enclosing a stratified filling of dentifrice comprising a plurality of X from points in each cross section of the tube to said restricted opening substantially uniform as the tube is uniformly collapsed from its closed end, including a device having a tubular portion fitting at its outer end 'into said restricted opening and provided inside said tube with generally radially arranged passages extending from the passage in said tubular portion through the side of the tubular portion to receive paste from the interior of the tube'and a closure 7 at the inner end 'of said passage.

3. The combination with a collapsible container tube of the customary type which is closedatone end and has a restfricted discharge opening at ,the other end, of means r91 rendering the flow of material from points device and the wall of 'thetube.

4. The combination with a collapsible tube of the customary type which is closed at one end and has a restricted discharge opening at the other end,-of means for rendering the flow of material from all points in each cross section of the tube to said restricted opening .substantially'unifor'm as the tube is uniformly collapsed from its closed end, includ ing a device having a portion fitting into said restricted opening and a head extending rear-i wardly in the tube and flaring outwardly from the portion in said restricted openingto provide the inner wall of a passage between the head and thetube and then tapered inwardly and toward the rear end of the tube to force outwardly toward the circumferential wall of the tube material forced toward said restricted end, said device having an axial passage through .the portion fitting into said restricted opening and having radially arranged passages connecting said axial passage withthe passage between the inner surface of the tube and the forward flared side of said head. a

5. A-dentifrice package including a tube or container provided with an outlet at one end andvcontaining a stratified filling of dentifrice comprising a pluralityofdifferent dentifrice substances for treatment of teeth and gums, the different substances beingar'ranged in alternating layers, transversely of the tube or container, to adapt the substances upon application of pressure to be extruded in orderly successiol f through the outlet.

6. A dentifrice package including a col-" different dentifrice'substances' for treatment ,of teeth and gums, the-different substances Lag let at the other end, and adapted to contain a dentifrice; of a device positioned in said tube adjacent to its discharge end and formed with a curved lower face adapted to deflect the dentifrice upwardly and towards the inner wall of the tube upon collapsing the tube from its closed end in an upward direction.

8. The combination with a collapsible container closed at one end and having a discharge opening at its opposite end and adapt ed to contain a dentifrice of means positioned within the container adjacent its discharge end and spaced from the walls of the container, said means being shaped to cause a uniform flow of the dentifrice from all points in the cross section of the container upon collapsing the container upwardly from its closed end.

CLARENCE J. PENNEY. 

